Native Sons - LOGGINS & MESSINA***

Sweet Marie/Pretty Princess/My Lady My Love/When I Was A Child/Wasting Our Time/Peacemaker/Its Alright/Boogie Man/Fox Fire/Native Son

Native Sons was the final studio album from the soft-rock duo Loggins and Messina. Kenny Loggins would go on to enjoy a successful solo career whilst Jim Messina’s would stall. (US:16)

“The instrumentation is often very good, especially with the addition of talented horns and wind instruments to the usual guitars and rhythms. The lyrics on occasion will make you wince or worse as both songwriters are capable of piling on the sentimentality. There is nothing really original here, although it is done quite well.”

“Over the course of their years together, Loggins and Messina released five albums of original studio material. The last of these, Native Sons, was by far the worst. As much as I loved the first four, listening to this lacklustre LP makes me think it really was time for these guys to go their separate ways.”

“Though it's not easy to say exactly what is wrong with this album, there are some clear differences from the earlier material. The resulting overall sound is much more rock lite. The country influences have been downplayed, the band seldom jams, the playing is almost never hot, and Messina's excellent guitar work is barely in evidence. Instead, we get more flute, less sax, more string orchestration. The songwriting doesn't hold up as well, although perhaps it is the arrangements that make me feel this way, rather than the songs themselves.”

“As a longtime fan of Loggins and Messina I have to admit that this record is their weakest. By the time this album came out, I am sure they were both working on different agendas. This is a tired album, no life and probably released to fulfil their recording commitment. There are some decent tracks, but nothing that really rocks.”

“This is a wonderfully underappreciated collection; melodic Loggins ballads side by side with Messina's longish rocking rambles.” “The material on this album is vastly different. Messina's writing is not the best, but all the Loggins songs show an artist at his peak of innovation, risk taking and expertise.”